Compared to Blaze's 3...other significant speaking roles (disregarding the Olympic games), she's just a bit more snooty than usual.
She may be dedicated the most to her role in the game.
Rules of the Internet 45. Rule 45 is a lie. Check out my art if you notice.I really like Blaze in this game, it's not too big of a departure from how she was before.
Rules of the Internet 45. Rule 45 is a lie. Check out my art if you notice.I don't know. Shadow scowls more often in his stills, when in the main games he usually just looks pretty neutral most of the time, which is kind of something American artists/animators tend to do (I guess him having a blank expression most of the time looks weird to them and so they often draw him as permanently pouting). A few of his comments like eating raw coffee beans and not being good with computers are more jokey than the main games would do, but they feel in-line enough for something that's trying to be light and comedic, every other character acts similarly (ex. Rouge acting like a klepto).
As I said, I think Blaze was off even with that in mind. They emphasized the princess aspect of her more than any other game every did, and like randomness4 said she sounds kind of snooty. As written in the Rush games, Blaze is usually stoic but kind of a dork when flustered because having no friends gave her no social skills.
Maybe this sounds a bit strange, but I was imaging most of the game if it was in Japanese and voice acted by their Japanese voice actors, and Blaze and Espio were the only characters I couldn't get to sound totally right in my head.
And on an extra note, if anything, Amy was more in-character in this game than she has been for the past decade.
Lack of social skills is a pretty common characteristic in this series...
Rules of the Internet 45. Rule 45 is a lie. Check out my art if you notice.Nega: But we already have a better Sonic RPG.
But seriously, if Sonic gets another chance in the RPG field, I'd pass the buck to Atlus.
Ha ha ha. What a story, Mark.I don't mind Blaze's status as a princess actually being part of her personality in the minor way this game has shown, especially since it never really came up before and is pretty much an Informed Attribute otherwise.
It barely comes up in Rush Adventure as in the way citizens from that world of Sol Dimension react to her.
Rules of the Internet 45. Rule 45 is a lie. Check out my art if you notice.I like that there's now something of a trend of one-shot characters who are inspired by Sonic's ability to keep moving forward. I mean, there already was such a trend (Merlina and Chip both fit into that categorization, and Shadow would count as well if he wasn't a one shot character), but we've now had the Avatar character, Sage, and Barry in that role in more recent games.
That was always meant to be Sonic's thing...
He's a Goku type character, he's not meant to develop...he's meant to be challenged or inspire others.
Rules of the Internet 45. Rule 45 is a lie. Check out my art if you notice.New Sonic Channel poll again
! This time we have the rocking Vector as the constant, with the options between Cream and Vanilla.
which means Vector gets a date or ends up playing dad.
I dunno if it's just me, but I never saw Sonic characterized as some variation of Goku. I kinda have a problem with folks saying he's "meant" to be this or that, especially if it means there's no growth involved. I mean, why does he need to emulate Goku? We already have Goku.
Maybe I'm just biased towards western writing, but statements like that always rub me the wrong way as an artist/amateur writer.
Certified, self-appointed Sonic VisionaryA character like that already existing doesn't prevent there from being others, that's nonsense.
It's pretty easy to make Sonic boring following such a character archetype without shining a light on the traits that make him unique.
The point is that in stories like Sonic Nex Gen, Forces, his part in the recent April Fools Day Visual Novel, his presence is suppose to be the catalyst for another character's development.
He can have flaws and be wrong, he can even go on an 'arc' of sorts if he's challenged enough or makes a mistake, but that's not really the focus most of the time.
Rules of the Internet 45. Rule 45 is a lie. Check out my art if you notice.I also really liked Blaze in this, but then I never actually played the Rush games. That said, even without playing those games you can tell they just made a persona for her from scratch.
And I think it really works, though. I don't read her as snooty so much as the cast's resident Deadpan Snarker. A lot of Not So Stoic and tons of sarcasm, but without the "I don't want to be here and I'll never admit I like you" slant you get with Shadow.
x3 I mean, by that logic Sonic's franchise runs the risk of becoming a never-ending story. With the way everyone's been gushing over the recent Murder Mystery/Light Novel and the Twitter Art stories, the impression seems to trend towards Sonic and the entirety of the cast being better treated the same way as Bugs Bunny/Loony Tunes or Mickey Mouse/House of Mouse versus your average shonen protag venturing to another region.
x2
So then I guess my next question is, within this archetype, what has Sonic setting himself apart from someone like Goku besides his visual design? Is it the cockiness? His enjoyment of stopping Robotnik? Goku yearns for a new scrap when he meets someone strong, but like Sonic has a strong enough sense of justice that pushes him to use his scrapping abilities to neutralize a legitimate threat.
My feeling is that there's more that can be explored in Sonic's character if creative liberties are made.
Edited by Tony-Sharx on Apr 3rd 2023 at 12:15:28 PM
Certified, self-appointed Sonic VisionaryI mean, yeah...
It's video game franchise that's not exactly creating a narrative with some kind of final destination.
Rules of the Internet 45. Rule 45 is a lie. Check out my art if you notice.

I'm definitely in favor of small, low-stakes spinoff games, but I'm split on the idea of visual novels specifically in that regard.
On one hand, "baby's first Ace Attorney + Endless Running Game" might be lightning in a bottle. How could potential follow-ups distinguish themselves or advance the concept without coming off as derivative of other investigative VNs?
On the other hand, I can't think of another game type that can produce a comparable "feel" while still being easy to make and play. A full-fledged RPG would be cool, but it wouldn't be easily completed without a designated B-team or outsourcing, and we all know how the last attempt went.